Bodies living now

This is a look at the moments that capture life in the city, from the memorable scenes to the hassles … like parking. Let me know when you come across one.

Last weekend 3,500 people filed into the Pike Street Annex, across the street from the Washington State Trade and Convention Center for what was billed as “Seattle’s premier indulgence and style event for women.”

They were there to be pampered, fitted for bras and for lessons on flirting.

With booths with clothes, cute purses and makeup, it was about life – which was kind of interesting because a few months ago, the place was filled with corpses.

It was totally different, said a woman who went to both Crave and the Bodies exhibit. She would only give her first name, Cheryl.

“It was a lot darker in here,” she said. And everybody was still alive.

A little earlier, Cheryl and 20 other women had been sitting in front of a stage where Alma Avery Rubenstein had been exhorting woman to get out and flirt.

“Throw your bust out. Throw your butt out. Work it,” she said.

Rubenstein, who is the founder of Professional Dater, a dating service, told the women to write their phone numbers of slips of paper and fold them up tight. That way, it would take awhile for the men they were trying to pick up to unfold them – and give the women time to escape before they were shot down.

You could say “Excuse me, I think you dropped this” before handing it to the men, she said. “You don’t have to tell the truth.”

A little later, Ellen York, an image consultant, was on the same stage talking to a different group of women. She told them how baggy clothes with bright ornate patterns camouflage large breasts and big butts.